The bottom line of the initial GVSU research data: There is plenty of wind in the middle of Lake Michigan for commercial wind energy production. The steady and consistent winds are closer to the surface of the water than expected.

And when the issue of commercial offshore wind farms again surfaces as a public debate in West Michigan, it will be a completely different conversation than when Scandia Offshore Wind proposed hundreds of wind turbines for the near-shore waters of Lake Michigan from Ludington to Grand Haven.

GVSU has a research platform in the middle of Lake Michigan that uses laser technology to gain wind data. Image originally published on mlive.com.